The spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, has denounced a post by Concerned Nigerians in Diaspora UK (CND-UK), demanding the suspension of the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Nwauju, in a statement on Thursday, said the call for the suspension of one of the best-performing ministers in President Bola Tinubu’s administration was a “highly unpatriotic call”, saying “it is worrying that the CND-UK has made itself available to desperate political actors to spread all sorts of nonsense in the media”.
Nwauju condemned CND-UK’s claim that Tunji-Ojo was allegedly leveraging his influence along with other key government figures to dominate political structures in some parts of the country ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to the APC boss, that CND-UK statement was “the height of absurdity and verbiage, as politics itself is about who gets what, when and how.”
Nwauju said: “As long as the Minister’s activities as a politician do not go beyond the minimum acceptable standards of conduct as a person and standard practice as a public office holder, how does participation in politics come in the way of CND-UK? How does that stop them from supporting their own preferred politicians? Is CND-UK trying to vitiate Dr Tunji-Ojo’s rights to associate with others Nigerians?
“Looking at this group’s comments on marketing Nigeria, I ask: which minister in the current cabinet has been a better seller of the Nigerian brand through his commitment to duty, innovative ideas, frugality and even exceeding income targets than Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo?
“I do not think it is out of place to ask Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to critically examine the patriotism quotient of the so-called CND-UK. This group has never before made any kind of advocacy to draw public attention to the shameful crisis we are facing in our passport application/issuance processes, but someone stepped in along with his team and changed that situation.
“This group made reference to the 2020 investigations of the NDDC under the leadership of Professor Pondei. This server was part of that investigation and it is incorrect to say that Professor Pondei organized a walkout in the House Committee. Rather, Professor Pondei collapsed under the weight of questions and evidence that he clearly could not contradict or explain!
“Referencing a report from the Political and Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC) on this issue is somewhat incoherent and smacks of a lack of seriousness and lack of due diligence on the part of CND-UK.
“Without a doubt, Nigeria’s image has been positively marketed because of the transformation recorded by the Ministry of Interior and not because of what this group is struggling to convey.”
Rivers APC spokesperson challenged CND-UK to explore the FOI Act by obtaining details on the ownership status of New Planet Project Ltd at the time Dr Tunji-Ojo assumed office as Minister. This will help the group stop doing unnecessary merry-go-rounds and catching at straws.
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